The Seven Scorpions
by t s wolff
Summary: A small, 6th grade boy from Southern Cairo, Egypt, is attacked at his school by mysterious men in black. Their master's name is Ashira. Nobody knows these men, what their purpose is, or what their master is like. The boy makes an unexpected ally, who tries to safely transfer him to a school for children like him in Seattle, Washington...children known as Egyptian Half-Bloods.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter One: The Men in Black

I will never forget the day the men in black visited our school.

They had black suits, wore dark sunglasses and came in a venomous black limousine. I watched from my perch on top of the monkey bars as I saw black shoes hit the pavement as the men in black piled out of the limo. One of them stared intently at me, shielding his eyes from the sun with one of his black gloves. I knew from school that black clothing attracts sunlight, and the first thing that I thought of was that they must be SWELTERING in those suits.

The doors of the limousine slammed shut as the men in black stepped onto the playground. One of them pulled out a rifle and shot a hole through the tire swing, which deflated as quickly as ice cream melts on a sunny day.

Children ran screaming in every direction. It occurred to me that perhaps I should join them. I scurried across the monkey bars and started to slide down the slide. The men in black started shooting rapidly in every direction. Suddenly, one of them looked at me again. I couldn't see his eyes through his sunglasses, but I was fairly certain he wasn't blinking.

Quickly, I tore across the blacktop, but one of my shoes hit a rock and I tripped and fell to the ground. Dizzy, I started to stand, but one of the men in black cried, "STAY DOWN!" He pointed his rifle straight at me.

"What are you doing here?" I cried. "This school is a sanctuary!"

"BE QUIET!" one of the men commanded. I looked around to see that I was surrounded. Men in black were in every direction. I considered my possibility of survival. Not very high. What did they want from me?

"PUT YOUR HANDS UP!" a man yelled, face flushed. I kept my hands down. Putting your hands up was a form of surrender, so they would surely kill me if I put up my hands. "PUT YOUR HANDS UP, OR WE KILL YOU!" Well, so much for that idea. I put up my hands. "WHAT'S YOUR NAME?"

I kept my mouth shut.

"YOU CAN STOP BEING QUIET NOW, YOU KNOW!" the man yelled, and he removed his sunglasses. He had dark brown eyes and hazel skin. His hair was short and black as night. I noticed that he wasn't blinking.

"WHAT'S YOUR NAME?" the man repeated. He pulled the trigger on the rifle. "TELL ME, OR I SHOOT!" Thoughts raced through my head. Should I tell them who I was? Should I stay quiet? I wanted desperately to stay alive, but—and then, three of the men in black grabbed me by the arms and hoisted me into the air. I thrashed about, trying to break free of their grasp, but then I realized that being taken was a whole lot better than being killed.

"Master wants him to stay alive," hissed one of the men who was carrying me to the man that had pulled the trigger. "Therefore, he stays alive. We bring him to the master for questioning." He said this with great authority in his voice.

"Who's the master?" I just couldn't help it. The words came out of my mouth like a bullet from a gun. "Who is the man that told you to kidnap me and terrorize this school? I would like to know the name of my captor."

"His name is Ashira," said one of the men in black, "And he is a good man."

"What kind of a good man would drag a child from his school and threaten to have him killed?" I demanded.

"Threatening to kill you was not part of the plan," the man explained. "Sharut was acting irrationally, and we apologize for his actions. I'm sure, deep down, he is sorry too."

"I DO NOT FEEL THE NEED TO APOLOGIZE TO OUR PRISONER!" Sharut roared. "WE SHOULD'VE KILLED HER WHEN WE HAD THE CHANCE! I DO NOT FEEL GUILTY FOR WHAT I DID! I FEEL LIKE I'M THE ONLY _RATIONAL _ONE IN THIS ENTIRE GROUP! THEREFORE, BE QUIET AND MIND YOUR OWN BUSINESS, THORUN!"

The other men stared at Sharut, shocked that he would say such things. I took this moment to break free of Thorun's grasp and make a wild dash for the school. "He's getting away!" one of the men yelled. "Quick, after him!"

The men snapped out of it and piled into the limo. "FOLLOW THAT BOY!" commanded Sharut. "AND STEP ON IT!" Sharut rolled down the window and called out, "IDIOT BOY! YOU KNOW WE'LL FIND YOU EVENTUALLY, AND OUR WRATH SHALL BE WORSE THAN THAT OF A THOUSAND SNAKES!"

I stood there for a moment, wondering what that meant, but then realized that I should probably run. I tore towards Cairo Elementary and pounded on the door. "LET ME IN!" I yelled. "IT'S ME, ARN-MIAMI OF SOUTHERN CAIRO!" Relentlessly, I pounded on the doors and windows, but they would let no one in. They were having a lock down, and they knew that impostors could be holding me captive and forcing me to say this against my will.

The limo parked outside the school. Once more, the men in black got out their rifles and ran towards where I was, shooting randomly in all directions. One of the bullets shattered the glass from one of the windows. I heard screams from inside of the school as shards flew everywhere. I took this opportunity to squeeze through the hole in the window and inside of the school. In horror, I realized that three of the larger shards had pierced Mrs. Winkowski through the skull, and bones were protruding out of her head. It was a repulsive sight. I also saw that one of the shards had fractured my best friend Amun-Lee's thigh bone, and yet another had dislocated someone's spine. One had flew straight through Minumma-Ra's neck, stopping her heart. Maimed and dead people lay everywhere. The school nurse was in a frenzy, running out of bandages fast, tending to the wounded. She was working hard, but she couldn't save everyone. Amun-Lee and Minumma-Ra were dead within the hour. Still outside, I heard the men in black shooting at the school. I wondered if they were terrorists. I'd heard of terrorists before...strange men who destroy for a purpose that they believe is right, but might not be. That would explain why they thought that their leader, Ashira, was a good man. But still, did terrorists kidnap people? I had learned that terrorists kill, not take captive. So who were these men in black, and why were they attacking my school...and me?

Eventually, the sounds of bullets bouncing off the walls faded, and we heard the limo pull out. The men in black had left, for now. But we knew that they would return, with stronger men or better rifles or a means of breaking down our steel doors.

Nurse Lipslow was in despair. "These men had better not come back," she growled, "Because we'll be ready for 'em!"

"How is that even possible?" I asked her. It seemed fairly unlikely that Cairo Elementary, this flimsy little school in Middle of Nowhere, Southern Cairo, could possibly prepare themselves for an attack from the men in black.

"That's a good point," said Nurse Lipslow, and she started to cry. Amidst her sobs, I heard her murmur, "WHY sixth grade? It always has to be sixth grade..." and then she continued her incessant wailing, and said no more.

One hour later, she was stony silent. Her face was flushed with tears, yet she looked extremely determined, like she was set on her goal, and nobody was about to stop her from achieving it...whatever that goal was. Finally, she spoke.

"We have to get you to Seattle."

**Like it? Have you guessed who the men in black are? Here's a hint: EGYPTIAN MYTHOLOGY. Well, he does live in Cairo...Yes, I know, in Rick Riordan's books, it's Brooklyn, but I'm trying to make this story a LITTLE bit different.**

** Please review! This time, I honestly will update...summer vacation has come at last!**


	2. Chapter 2, Part One

**I am updating now...**

** Mua ha ha! I bet you didn't expect an update so soon! Well, guess what? Expect at least one update each day, sometimes two, because it is finally SUMMER VACATION! I am excited to write because I came back last night and had a dream about a scene from this story...so I am trying to bring the story to that scene, and then continue from there!**

** Once more, I ask you all to please review! It means SO MUCH to me! I didn't continue the Sacred Stone because it only got 6 reviews! I didn't continue Robert Jameson, because some random anonymous person who called themselves Robert Jameson was the only one who reviewed! Reviews mean everything to an AUTHOR during SUMMER VACATION who has an account on FANFICTION!**

** Here we go with Chapter Two...**

Chapter Two, Part One: The House of Life

"What?" I was completely confused. Why on earth would the Cairo Elementary School nurse want to transport me to Seattle? And where was Seattle, anyways? I felt like I was Luke after finding out that Darth Vader was his father...confused, scared, and a little bit angry. "Why do I have to go to Seattle?"

"I'll tell you everything on the way," Nurse Lipslow whispered to me. "Now come! We have to hurry, before the men in black come again!" She was biting her fingernails. I wondered how a finger-biting nurse could safely bring me to some other country, continent, town, whatever. She hardly looked capable of traveling by herself, let alone with some Egyptian child who was wanted by the men in black and their leader, Ashira.

"Where is this Seattle, anyways?" I asked, more loudly than Nurse Lipslow wanted me to ask. "Why me? What did you mean by 'it always has to be sixth grade'?"

Nurse Lipslow stared at me with wide eyes. "You weren't supposed to hear that," she whispered faintly. Then, I heard a BOOM, and Nurse Lipslow toppled over onto the ground. The men in black were back, and they had broken down the door.

I noticed this time that they had left their rifles behind. They were holding strange, wooden crossbows made of twigs and leaves, but the arrows had purple tips. One of the arrows had hit Nurse Lipslow squarely in the stomach. "This will probably hurt," I warned her, and I pulled the arrow out. I noticed that it had a blunt edge, so it wasn't as bad as the pointy arrows. It was a noise arrow, meant to make a lot of noise, not to hurt, so Nurse Lipslow would probably be fine. But why were the men in black using such primitive weapons?

It was then that Nurse Lipslow snatched my hand and placed it to her wound. She muttered an incantation in a language that I did not understand, and the wound sealed up. I could see no blood. It was as if the arrow had never hit her. But I had no time to be stunned. I pulled Nurse Lipslow to her feet, and she called out, "LEAVE THIS SCHOOL AND NEVER COME BACK!" I tried to pull her back, but she broke free of my grasp and stepped right up to Sharut, who was in the front. "Tell your people to go back to Ashira and leave us alone," she hissed. "Maybe then will I spare your life." I had never seen Nurse Lipslow this angry before.

"As if!" Sharut chortled. "What are you going to do, old lady? You are a healer from the 57th Nome! You know nothing about offensive or defensive magic! That is not your specialty! Therefore, there is nothing you can do!"

"You have abandoned the House of Life completely!" Nurse Lipslow screeched. "You have forgotten the old ways and given in to the new! You have forgotten the gods! The ancient ways! You are a traitor to the House!"

"What house?" I asked.

"Ignorant fool!" Sharut sneered. "I told you he was not the one!" he yelled to Thorun, who was at the rear of the crowd. "I told you that he knew nothing! But did you listen? Noooo! You persisted! 'Master says he's the one', you said. 'He has powers unknown to us all', you said. Come on, Mystery Boy! Show us what you've got!"

Sharut fired an arrow at my chest. BOOOM! I knew this was a noise arrow because it went BOOOM before impact, but regardless, I flinched, and it hit me in the forehead and knocked me to the ground. I felt faint. Nurse Lipslow ran to my side and levitated the arrow out of my skull as the men in black were in hysterics on the sidelines, chortling with laughter at my terrible performance. "You have to admit, he has potential!" Thorun cried, but his voice was drowned out by the laughter of the other men in black.

"Bastet, this is a mighty wound!" cried Nurse Lipslow. "Especially for such a blunt-edged weapon!" She began her incantation, but stopped midway through. "That laughter is distracting me! I must focus, or you shall die!" I felt dizzy, and barely managed to sustain consciousness as she carried me away from the men in black. "Now, I know they will pursue us eventually, but the magical borders of this place shall slow them down for enough time for me to save your life." I wearily looked up at the rickety fence around us and the little sign that read: CAIRO ZOO. PLEASE TREAT SCORPIONS WITH RESPECT. "Scorpions," explained Nurse Lipslow, "Make somewhat weak borders, but borders nonetheless."

"We're going inside of the scorpion cages?" I gaped, my breath quickening. I was somewhat frightened of scorpions, to be perfectly frank. Actually, more like terrified.

"Precisely," Nurse Lipslow said gravely. It was then that there was not a chance of staying awake. With the prospect of scorpions at hand, I promptly passed out. When I woke up, I was covered in scorpions. I emitted a squeal of utter horror as I saw there was a 6 foot tall scorpion standing on top of the scorpions that were standing on top of me...

**That's not much of a cliffhanger, but that's the end of the chapter. Finally the gods are introduced, and we find out that our boy has been 'chosen' for something, although Sharut's not too happy about it...**

** Please review!**


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